Kelly Oubre Jr. wants everyone to put some respect on the Wizards' name

Kelly Oubre believes his Wizards are being disrespected, just like everyone else in Washington. (AP)

Kelly Oubre is still coming into his own as the youngest player in the Washington Wizards’ rotation. Entering his third season, Oubre has to extend his shooting range and temper his aggressiveness on defense by whittling down his 4.7 fouls per 36 minutes. However, off the court, he’s already embraced the Wizards’ collective inferiority complex, as we learned from his discussion with CBS Sports:

He still isn’t over the fact he fell to No. 15 in the 2015 draft, saying he has “a fire burning in his heart from that.” That attitude fits perfectly in Washington, where the players seem permanently peeved that their peers get more attention. Oubre said the Wizards are always aware of what’s going on around them, and they believe they are being underestimated yet again.

“Well, s***, if you look at it, they always have the Wizards last, man,” Oubre said. “On all ranking sites and all websites, they always put us last. I understand we have the last letter in the alphabet as far as teams in the league, but you have to show some respect when respect is due. We’ve been putting in the work over the years, man, to be appreciated. And I feel like a lot of people look over us — even the NBA. But we’re going to show people wrong. It’s just fuel to the fire, man. We’re coming. D.C. is on the rise.”

Every perceived slight stings like a bullet wound to the stars on this team. Oubre feeling slighted about falling to 15th in his draft would carry more weight if he actually outperformed a majority of the 14 players taken before him. Among those in the 2015 draft lottery are Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, Kristaps Porzingis and Justise Winslow. Devin Booker fell to 13th, just two spots before Oubre.

And Oubre will have a sizable role to play in Washington’s ascension. He must improve upon his 6.3 points on 29 percent 3-point shooting and 3.3 rebounds per 20 minutes a game, which had him ranked 34th in Player Efficiency Rating out of 40 eligible small forwards. The sooner Oubre breaks out, the better — for the Wizards and for him. Oubre is eligible for a rookie contract extension next fall.